Summertime in the City
by abiholmes97
Summary: A short insight into a day in the life of the Jane family. A trip to the park on a lovely summer day! No real plot, just how I imagine they might spend a summer day. Please R R! I hope you enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

It was a lovely warm summer's day in the middle of July. The Jane family had recently moved from Austin back to Sacramento. It wasn't that they didn't like being in Texas, they loved it, but the cabin that Jane had bought and renovated for him and Lisbon simply wasn't big enough. The previous October, Teresa and Patrick had welcomed their fourth child; a little girl whom they called Sophie Isabella. They decided to move back up to Sacramento because it was the only other place that had felt like home for both of them. It was also helpful as they had Grace and Rigsby to fall on for childcare help. Ben was sixteen now and Maddie was almost fourteen, meaning that they were more than capable in helping out. Abbott had helped provide reference for both Jane and Lisbon so that they were able to work for the FBI office in California.

Their eldest daughter, Willow was now ten and was about to finish elementary school, T.J was eight and Chris was four. It seemed the right time to move, if there was a right time. They had kept the cabin and the land though and they planned to use it as a vacation house. They now lived in the suburbs of the city so that it was green and "rustic" enough for Jane but close enough to the city for their work and the kid's schools. The house they had was amazing. Teresa was still surprised by how much money Jane had saved from his days living as a psychic and he had also finally sold his house in Malibu. He had found it hard, but with his wife's support, he finally shut the door on that chapter of his life. Red John was dead and wasn't coming back and now with Teresa, he had a new life. He never forgot Angela and Charlotte but at the same time, he couldn't keep dwelling on the past. For the sake of his children and wife, he had to live in the present.

Speaking of the present, it was the first weekend in a while where both Patrick and Teresa had the weekend off. They always tried to get it so that at a weekend at least one of them was at home, and it was usually Patrick, but Teresa was working less hours at the moment, owing to Sophie being three months old. This was great news for the elder children who loved having both their parents round more. Patrick and Jane had decided to take a trip out to the park for an afternoon, seeing as the July weather in California is usually good. It would also be good for the three elder children to get out in the air and the sunshine and run off some energy.

Packing up three children between four and ten with a three month old baby should be a piece of cake, but that morning Chris had decided that anything and everything that his mother did was wrong and he was going to fight against it. Having gotten Willow and T.J into their shoes, with their backpacks on, she sat Chris down on the stairs.

"Shoes on Chris." She said, smiling, holding one of his sandals up.

Chris glared at his mother and crossed his arms, "No!" he replied adamantly.

Teresa smiled, "Come on, Chris. You can't go to the park without your shoes."

"No!"

Teresa gave him a look, "C'mon Christopher Jane. Put on your shoes."

"No!"

"Christopher, I won't ask again…" she warned him.

Chris shook his head, "No, no shoes."

"Er, Teresa, may I?" came the calm voice of her husband.

Teresa sighed, "Sure, be my guest. I'll get the baby in the pram."

Jane kissed her on the forehead, "By the way, I think Willow and T.J may be arguing again."

Teresa shook her head, "I swear these kids are going to kill me."

Patrick laughed, "Extremely unlikely. You love them and they love you."

"Remind me of that in twenty years when none of them will be my responsibility anymore."

Patrick kissed her gently and she kissed her back.

"Mommy!" cried Willow from outside.

Teresa smiled, counted to ten in her head and headed out the front saying, "Toby Joseph Jane, I swear if you have upset your sister in any way, you'll be sorry!"

Patrick smiled and turned his attention to his youngest son. "Now then young Chris." He smiled, "How about we put these shoes on?"

Chris folded his arms again, "No."

"You know," Patrick replied, looking over his shoulder to check his wife wasn't watching, "I'll buy you an ice cream at the park if you put your shoes on all by yourself."

Chris looked at the sandals in his father's hands, looked up at his dad and then back at the shoes, as if weighing up the choices. He bit his lip and looked back at his dad, "Okay!" he replied, grabbing the sandals and smiling widely.

"Atta boy!" Jane replied ruffling his hair. "Oh, and not a word to Mom. Our little secret!" Jane put his finger to his lips, indicating that Chris should keep quiet.

Chris giggled and put his finger to his lip. Patrick ruffled his hair and smiled, "C'mon then. Let's go to the park!"

Chris jumped down off the step and ran out to find his mom and siblings. Jane followed him, grabbing his sunglasses off the counter, grabbing his keys and shutting the door.

Half an hour later, they were at the park. Willow and T.J ran off immediately, shortly followed by Chris who had done most of the journey on his father's shoulders. Patrick and Teresa found a spot under the shade of a tree, spread a blanket out and settled down. Sophie had fallen asleep and they left her in her pram. Teresa had just settled down next to her husband when she heard an all too familiar voice shout, "MOMMY! T. J'S CHASING ME WITH A SPIDER!"

"Okay, maybe these kids will kill you!" Jane laughed.

"Don't think I'm not taking you down with me!" Lisbon smiled, standing up and running off to attend to her children. Patrick flopped back down on the blanket, resting one arm under his head, looking up at the leaves on the tree, blowing gently in the wind. He was just about to shut his eyes and take a nap when a piercing cry shattered the stillness that surrounded him. He sat up and crawled over to the pram. Resting on his knees, he peered into the pram and saw that his daughter was wide awake and crying. Gently, he lifted her out and held her in his arms. He rocked her for a few moments and held his pinky finger under her chin. One of her tiny hands came and grabbed it tightly, making Jane smile.

Carefully, he made his way to the tree and sat with his back resting against the trunk of the tree. He brought his knees up and rested Sophie against them. Her hands held onto his fingers and she looked at him with her beautiful blue eyes.

"Well, someone's not asleep anymore!" he smiled at his daughter, "You just wanted to see what was going on, didn't you? Didn't want to miss out on all the fun?"

Sophie just cooed back in reply.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but there's not a lot going on. And you're too small to do a lot of stuff. But we can have fun here, just you and me."

Sophie tried to smile, and her legs kicked out in excitement. Jane grinned.

"Are you going to be a right Daddy's girl as well? Your big sister already is. She's very clever. She can easily outwit me and her memory? She's going to be something big in the future. But what about my little Sophie? You know," he smiled down at her, copying some of the faces she was making as he talked at her, "You are named after my very good friend who was a doctor. She helped me when I was in a bad place and… and I should have done more to help her. But I couldn't. But what is my little Sophie going to do. Maybe she's going to be the first female president of the United States of America?"

Sophie blew a raspberry and Jane laughed. The timing could not have been more perfect. "Maybe not!" he replied.

"Maybe she'll take over the world as the Jane's seem to be doing at the moment!" came a familiar voice.

Jane looked up, squinting in the sun. Towering over them were the familiar forms of Wayne and Grace Rigsby and their two children, Ben and Maddie.

"Grace! Rigsby!" Jane smiled, "What are you doing here?"

"Teresa texted this morning, said you were heading to the park and did we want to join." Explained Grace.

"We brought sandwiches and a soccer ball!"

"It's great to see you. I would stand up but…" he indicated to Sophie in his lap.

"Can I hold her?" asked Grace.

"Sure," replied Jane, handing his daughter over. Grace took her gently and smiled.

Jane was then able to stand up and hug Wayne. He also hugged Madeline and Ben while he was up.

"How have you settled back into life in California?" asked Wayne smiling.

Jane smiled, "Pretty well. Temperature's about the same, we know where everything is. The only thing has been finding where all the kids are going to be going to school."

"Where have you got them going?" asked Maddie.

"Willow will be starting Middle School so she's enrolled at the California Middle School and T.J and Chris are going to Phoebe Hearst Elementary School."

"They're good schools." Smiled Maddie. "One of my friends went to that Middle school so Willow will be ok!"

Jane smiled, "Thanks Maddie!"

Maddie shrugged and flopped down on the blanket, next to her mom and baby Sophie.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you had four kids?" asked Wayne, looking round.

Jane smiled, "Don't remind me!" he laughed, "T.J was winding up his sister, so my amazing wife ran off to deal with them. If I know my daughter, they'll be over by the swings if you want to find her."

Wayne nodded and ran off to find his former boss.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry this has become a bit longer than I originally planned! There's one more chapter to come, I think. I've just had so much fun writing this little fic. Enjoy! A/N**

**Chapter Two:**

Over by the swings, Teresa had managed to diffuse the situation. T.J was now happily playing on the climbing frame, while Willow and Chris enjoyed time on the swings. Willow was laughing and throwing her head back as she swung back and forth, her light brown curls blowing in the wind.

"Higher Momma, higher!" shouted Chris, also grinning from ear to ear as his mother pushed him in the swing.

"Chris, if I push you any higher, you'll fall out!"

Chris didn't listen, he was too busy laughing.

"Hold onto the swing!" Teresa called as her youngest son put his arms in the air as if he was on a rollercoaster, "You'll fall out otherwise!"

"Faster, mommy, push me faster!" he shouted.

Teresa couldn't help but laugh as she watched the enjoyment of her children playing out before her. Just then she heard Willow gasp. Her heart pounding, thinking her daughter had fallen off the swing, she took her eyes off her son and looked round. Willow was pointing across the park and grinning from ear to ear.

"Mom!" she grinned, "It's Uncle Rigsby!"

Teresa looked at where her daughter was pointing and, indeed, there was Wayne Rigsby walking towards them.

"Uncle Rigsby!" and a blur of colour ran into him.

"Whoa!" he smiled as he looked down at T.J who had managed to jump down from the climbing frame and run into his uncle before he reached his siblings. "Hey T.J!"

"Hi!" T.J grinned.

"I saw him first!" said Willow, glaring at her brother as she waited for the swing to slow down so she could get off.

"Nuh uh! I saw him from the top of the tower!" he replied, folding his arms, looking at his sister, almost daring her to retaliate.

"Did not!"

"Did so!"

"Did not"

"Did so!"

"Did not!"

"Enough!" called Teresa, helping Chris out of the swing. He also ran up to Wayne and hugged him round the knees. Wayne ruffled his hair affectionately. "You both saw him at the same time, okay?"

Willow sighed.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, young lady!" her mother warned. Willow just glared, holding onto the sides of the swing.

T.J was grinning at his sister. There was nothing he liked more than seeing his big sister in trouble, usually trouble he had started.

"And you can stop grinning!" Teresa looked at T.J, "You're just as bad as her and you didn't need to wind her up either." She breathed out and smiled at Rigsby, "Hello Wayne, sorry about this." She walked over to her friend and hugged him.

He smiled, "Don't worry about it." He ruffled T.J's hair, "Ben was just the same at his age."

"Got any tips on what to do with him?" she smiled, stroking her son's hair. T.J batted his mother's hand away and ran off, Chris following after him. "Toby, just watch your brother!" she called. Willow came up and held her hand.

Rigsby smiled, "He'll grow out of it. Ben and Maddie get on fine now."

Teresa smiled, "Hopefully Willow and T.J will realise they love each other really!"

Willow looked up at her mother as if she had just uttered a taboo word.

Rigsby grinned, "You know who they remind me of?" he asked as they headed back to where everyone was gathered.

"Who?" Teresa asked, curious.

"You and Jane. In the early days. You used to bicker like brother and sister!"

"We did not!" She replied smiling.

"Er I believe there was one case in which you said to him 'If aliens do come, I hope they eat you!'"

Teresa blushed, "Okay… okay. I get it!"

"Mom! Chris is stuck on the climbing frame!" T.J called.

"Excuse me!" and she ran off again.

Willow and Wayne made their way back to the mat.

"Maddie!" she grinned, as soon as she saw her cousin.

"Hey, Loey!" smiled Maddie. It was how Maddie had pronounced Willow's name when she was younger and it had stuck.

Willow grinned, "How are you?" and the two girls began to catch up.

"Uh oh, here comes trouble!" smiled Jane as he saw Lisbon walking over with the two boys, Chris in her arms and T.J walking alongside her. As they approached, Teresa set Christopher down and he ran straight at his father, knocking him backwards as he fell on him. Jane laughed and threw him up in the air. He then looked round and smiled at the group assembled around him.

"The whole gangs back together!" he remarked, smiling.

"Well, nearly the whole gang." Smiled Grace, still holding Sophie in her arms

"Yeah, we're just missing Cho." Said Wayne.

"I'm sure he's doing a fine job heading up the unit in Austin." Smiled Teresa, going and standing by Grace so she could keep an eye on her daughter.

"Do you miss it?" Grace asked.

"Austin?" asked Teresa

"Yeah, working with Cho, Abbott, Wiley?"

"Sometimes, but I like that I'm back in Sacramento. Feels like home."

"I miss Austin sometimes." Sighed T.J

"Really?" asked Jane, looking at his eldest son curiously.

"Well, yeah. It was home for us and I liked being by the pond and out in the country. It's odd being in the city."

"We're not really in the city though, are we T.J? I mean you go to school in the city but we live in suburbs really." Replied Jane

"It's not the same as the cabin though." He muttered under his breath.

"How about a game of soccer?" asked Rigsby, trying to change the subject.

"We could do boys v girls?" suggested Ben.

"There are more boys than girls, moron." Replied Maddie.

"Maddie, that's not nice!" scolded Grace, looking at her daughter. Maddie just rolled her eyes.

"How about grown up's v children?" suggested Jane, "We could have Willow, T.J and Chris and Maddie, against Wayne, Ben and I and whoever wants to play out of you or Grace?" he looked at his wife.

"And what? Have T.J and Willow kill each other?" she replied, smiling, "How about we choose two people to be captains, say the oldest child from each family and then they pick their team members?"

No one raised another suggestion so Ben and Willow ended up being captains.

"You can put Sophie in the pram, Grace." Smiled Lisbon, "She'll be fine, we're not far and you can come play too."

Willow chose Maddie, Patrick and Chris to be on her team whilst Ben chose Teresa, T.J, Wayne and Grace.

Seeing the uneven teams, Grace said, "How about I be referee? That way I can still play but keep an eye on Sophie?"

Teresa smiled, "Sure."

Jane kicked off his shoes and made a make-shift goal at one end of the 'pitch' and Rigsby shrugged off his jacket, bundled it up and stole the changing bag to make the other goal.

Teresa looked at her husband funny as he ran back in the woolen socks, she had bought him when they both started working in Austin. Although he had finally bought other pairs, these were still his favourite.

"It's 86 degrees and you've got woolen socks on?" she asked.

He shrugged, "They're my favourite!" he replied, smiling.

Ben and Willow met in the middle of the makeshift pitch and looked at each other. Ben, being six years older than Willow, towered over her, but she puffed out her chest and stood defiant. Grace tossed a coin to decide who would start play. The ball went to Willow's team and she gave it a good kick into the other side.

The game ended when Chris tripped over the ball and began to cry. Teresa called it a day and suggested that they all have lunch. Wayne announced that they were all winners to which T.J and Maddie protested at much to the annoyance of their parents. They all sat round the blanket, with Sophie lying at the edge, trying to catch the sunlight as it bounced through the trees. Chris climbed into his mothers lap half way through the picnic and fell asleep. Willow and Maddie started doing some gymnastics and Ben sat on his phone.

"Mommy, can I go back to the park?" asked T.J, feeling decidedly left out since his brother was asleep.

"Sure, why don't you take your father with you?" she suggested.

T.J's eyes lit up and he looked at his father. Jane smiled, "Let's go, kiddo!"

T.J practically pulled his father up and bounced the whole way back over to the park.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: **

Patrick walked over to the park with his eldest son. He was definitely the most abrasive of his children, not afraid to speak his mind, teased his sister endlessly, but beneath all that he was also caring and kind. He helped Chris with his homework and played in the garden with him when he really wanted to be playing video games. And there were times when he loved his sister. He remembered when Willow took her First Holy Communion. When she had received communion with the other children, she had turned to face her parents and brother, and T.J had run out of his seat and given her the biggest hug ever.

Jane smiled fondly as he remembered that memory.

"What are you smiling at?" asked T.J as he climbed up to do the Monkey bars.

"Just a happy memory." Jane replied.

"Oh." T.J replied, swinging across the bars with ease. "Can I ask you something, Dad?"

"Sure."

"Why do you work for the FBI if you're not an Agent?"

Jane looked down at his feet. Luckily, he had remembered to put his shoes back on. He hadn't told any of his children what had happened with Red John. He would one day, but when they were a lot older and could understand. But he didn't want to lie to his son.

"Um… well… that's the million-dollar question." He smiled up at his son, "Why don't you show me how you climb on the climbing wall?"

T.J led his father over to the wall, "So go on then? Why do you work for the FBI? Is it cause you like being with Mom?"

Jane smiled, "That's part of the reason." He watched T.J climb up the wall, "You really are very good at that, you know?"

"I know!" he said, jumping down from where he was and starting to climb back up.

Jane thought for a minute, "Toby, has your mother ever mentioned anything about how we met?"

T.J looked down, surprised by the use of his actual name, "She said you met when you were in a bad place and that you ended up using your skills to catch bad guys…"

"One bad guy in particular. His name was Red John and he took the life of my wife and daughter."

T.J stopped climbing and looked down at his father.

"Minneli, who was the chief of the CBI at the time…"

"CBI?" asked T.J

"California Bureau of Investigation. It was like the FBI but more conveniently located as Cho used to say."

"I've never heard of it."

"That's cause we were disbanded during the Red John case. We unearthed a secret society of corrupt cops, judges, senators, you name it."

"So, what did this guy Minneli do?"

"He let me tag along on a case with your mother, Uncle Rigsby and Cho. I managed to close the case in record time apparently. Minneli liked me so much that he kept me on."

"Okay, but how do you go working for the CBI to the FBI?" he asked, heading over to the swings.

"I did something that was bad, and the FBI offered me a deal in exchange for working for them. I did actually stop for a bit after we were married, but it's like Abbott said, it's very hard to say goodbye."

Silence fell between the two for a while. Jane stared up at the sky and T.J played on the swing. Then a voice shouted in the distance:

"JANE! T.J! WE'RE PACKING UP!"

"That's us told!" Jane smiled as T.J jumped off the swing. He began to walk back off towards everyone else but stopped to look at his father.

"I'm sorry about your wife and daughter, Dad." And he hugged Jane tightly.

Jane found that he couldn't speak but nodded and hugged his son back.

They made their way back across the field in silence.

"Everything okay?" Teresa asked him, seeing the tears tracks down his face.

Jane nodded and focused his attention on saying goodbye to the Rigsby's. Teresa narrowed her eyes and made a mental note to ask him about it later. They walked back in a subdued silence, all three of the kids shattered. Chris sat on his father's shoulders and Willow and T.J walked ahead, too tired to argue or wind each other up. Only Sophie seemed to have woken up, babbling happily to herself in the pram. Teresa kept shooting worried looks at her husband that Jane kept meeting and smiling at her. She hadn't looked at him like that since the final days of the Red John investigation.

They had dinner together and bathed the kids. Willow and T.J had their own upstairs and Chris and Sophie shared one downstairs. They gave the kids a glass of milk. Willow retired to her room, wanting to read more of her book, T.J followed her up a few minutes later and Teresa put Chris to bed. Jane rocked Sophie to sleep and placed her in the crib in their room, whispering, "You are loved, you are safe, you are wise" before kissing her on the forehead before he left.

When he got back into the living room, he found Teresa on sofa, having poured two glasses of wine.

"Care to explain what happened with T.J at the park?"

Jane sighed, "Not really."

"Jane, c'mon. You don't need to wait until I need to know to tell me things. We had this discussion already."

"Toby asked why I work for the FBI when I'm not an agent like you."

"What did you tell him?"

Jane paused and took a sip of wine, "This is really very nice, what vintage is it?"

"Patrick…"

"Right, I told him the truth."

Teresa almost dropped her wine glass, "You told him you killed a man?"

Patrick looked at her, "No of course not! I want to wait until my son hates me for a reason like me embarrassing him, not because I killed Red John, even if he deserved it."

"So what did you tell him?" she asked.

"I told him that I did something that was wrong, and that the FBI offered me a deal if I worked for them."

"Do you think he suspected anything."

Jane shook his head, "As we were heading back to you, he stopped and said 'I'm sorry about Angela and Charlotte' and he hugged me. That's why I was crying."

"Oh, Patrick." Teresa caressed the side of his cheek gently.

"I think…" he began and then paused, thinking about what he was about to say, "I think I should tell Willow and T.J about Angela and Charlotte and Red John… not that I killed him, just enough so they get the general gist and also so that they understand how we met…"

"Are you sure?" she asked, "That's got to be painful for you. And you'll have to repeat it when you tell Chris and Sophie."

"I know but Willow and T.J are at the age where they're starting to ask these questions and I think they have a right to know."

"You know I'll support anything you do, so long as you're sure?" she asked, running her fingers through his hair.

He took her hand and kissed it, "I am." He replied, "I'm also sure that I love you, very much."

She smiled, "I love you too."

He kissed her gently, at first but then deepened it.

"Thanks for a lovely day." He breathed as they pulled apart.

"You're welcome." She replied, looking into his eyes.

"We learnt one thing today…" he grinned.

"What's that?" she asked.

"I'm much better at soccer than you are!"

THE END


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